1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns novel plant genotypes for Phaseolus, and more particularly concerns bean seeds and plants germinated therefrom which produce easily harvestable pods.
2. General Discussion of the Background
Beans are an important staple food item for human consumption. The broad beans (Vicia Faba), soy beans (Glycine Max), and a few other types have long been known in Europe, but the choice food beans of the modern world are the large-seeded species of Phaseolus. This species includes lima beans, scarlet runner beans, string beans, shell beans, white beans, black beans, pea beans, black-eyed beans, and kidney beans. The most widely cultivated of the beans is Phaseolus vulgaris, which includes green, string, snap or wax beans, as well as many types of dry beans, such as kidney, pea, pinto, Great Northern, marrow, yellow-eye, and others.
The commercial importance of these beans has made it necessary to find methods of harvesting them mechanically from the bushes on which they grow. Mechanical harvesters, such as the Chisholm-Ryder Multiple Density Harvester, have been developed for this purpose. The Chisholm-Ryder harvester lifts prostrate beans from the ground to an upright position using a set of two horizontal brushes driven hydraulically at a speed of about 175 RPM. The upright beans are then stripped from the bush by a series of metal or rubber picking fingers arranged horizontally on a reel. As the beans are stripped from the bush, the leaves and stems are also removed. All of this material is then carried bhy a conveyor to a device called the stripper, which detaches the stems and leaves from the picked beans. After passing through the stripper, the beans, stems and leaves are conveyed through a set of two cleaning fans which, at a speed of 1500 RPM, separate the lighter weight stems and leaves from the pods. This lighter weight material ("trash") is blown out of the machine by exhaust fans, while the pods are conveyed to a storage hopper. It would be desirable to eliminate or reduce the extra equipment and processing steps required for removing stems and leaves from the pods.
In addition to mingling bean pods with unwanted debris, the high speed stripping action of the picking reel breaks many pods. It is therefore also necessary to hand inspect products and discard broken pods to obtain an end product of uniform quality. These extra steps of removing debris and inspecting pods increase the complexity and cost of bean processing. A bean bush having pods that can be mechanically harvested without such problems would be commercially advantageous.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a bean plant having characteristics which allow pods to be mechanically harvested while reducing the amounts of stems and leaves which ar pulled from the bush.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a bean plant having pods that can be harvested with a lower speed picking reel than in the prior art.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a plant having pods that can be harvested with reduced abrasive action against the plant.
Even yet another object is to provide a bean plant having pods that can be harvested with fewer broken pods to provide a higher quality product for processing.
Still another object is to provide a bean plant which can be harvested with significant processing plant savings by reducing the need for line inspection and mechanical cleaning equipment.
Finally, it is an object of the invention to provide a bean plant which produces decreased amounts of trash during mechanical harvesting.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description.